Finally getting on track... what to expect?

[JDfutureCRNA]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum. I've been watching the site for a while now, but I wanted to introduce myself. My name's Josh. I'm a pre-nursing student in North Louisiana. I originally wanted to be a Business major...then I got bored with crunching numbers and deciding whether or not something is "economically substantial." Medicine has always peaked my interest; but I never really paid too much attention to it. It wasn't until after two hospital visits (2x thoracotomy, pleurodesis, etc.) that I realized how comfortable I feel in the hospital setting. Then I thought about nursing and decided I wanted to do just that. One day I want to become a CRNA (but time will tell).

Anyways, I'm beginning A&P this summer and will hopefully finish out my pre-reqs for Nursing School in the Spring of '12. GENERALLY speaking, how did your experiences with A&P, patho, micro, etc. go? Thanks.

[KatieJ91]

My science pre-reqs for the program were: chemistry, biology, microbiology, human anatomy 1 and 2. I personally thought chemistry was easier than I did biology, but when it comes to your harder classes like microbiology and AP the biology will be more important to have a base knowledge of. I am not really sure why I even had to take chemistry other than to take the TEAS test. A lot of it depends on your teacher as well. I had an awful teacher for biology (never took it or chem in HS) and had to pretty much teach myself from the book. The labs were also very boring to me. Now microbiology was GREAT. I found the class so interesting and I think that is what helped me want to learn the material. My lab was also very fun and interactive. You will learn to feel so much comfortable in the lab setting and be amazed at what you will learn. Human AP is a difficult class, but I believe if you have a good base understanding of biology it will help you tremendously. It is lots of reading and lots of memorization. You have to be diligent in your studies. My teacher always told us that if we could teach someone the material than you had learned it! Plus it is so important to know for nursing that it gave me a major boost in wanting to learn the material thoroughly. I am currently on break before I start in Sept. and I have been spending an hour or two a day studying my AP because I feel like I am still learning and want to know it inside and out.

[hdawnRN]

Chemistry requires much more knowledge of simple algebra operations than memorization. The other classes you will excel at if you can memorize processes and put them together (only slightly like nursing school). You'll need a GOOD SOLID knowledge base in these areas for nursing school, but if this interests you, you should do just fine!

One thing I'd like to point out... if you are really interested in become a CRNA, you'll need a great GPA to even apply to those schools in the future. You'll hear a lot of "C's get degrees" in nursing school, but they definitely don't get you the higher education opportunities that you may be seeking. So take interest, take part, and take control of those classes! Good luck!